Lancaster Insurance MG Owners Championship

 

Dear Competitor,

I’d like to thank those drivers and their guests who attended the Awards Dinner, the final numbers were a bit down on previous years but it went well and everyone enjoyed the evening.

Click here to enlarge.

The above photo is of the drivers at the 1998 Awards Dinner, there are plenty of familiar, and several rather less familiar, faces. In the spirit of Christmas I’ll donate a bottle of wine to the first person who can name all 21 drivers (exclude the bloke standing behind table 2) in the photo.

 

Lancaster Insurance

I’m delighted to confirm that Lancaster Insurance will be continuing as our main Championship sponsor for the 2015 season. Some additional financial support will again be provided by Yokohama.

 

2015 Race Dates

The provisional race dates for the 2015 season are:

April 11/12th Rockingham
May 4th Castle Combe (Live on Motors TV)
May 16/17th Cadwell
June 6/7th Donington (GP)
July 25/26th Brands Hatch
August 30/31st Snetterton
September 19/20th Silverstone (International)
October 3/4th Thruxton
   

2015 Regs

These are with BARC and they expect them to be approved by MSA in early January. As soon as they’re approved I’ll sent copies out to all registered drivers in order that you can send in 2015 Championship registration forms.

We already have several new drivers and a few returning former Champions joining us for 2015 and it looks like being a very busy and well supported season.

 

Crash Helmets

A word of caution.

Crash helmets approved to Snell 2000 are now out of date and are not acceptable for the 2015 season (refer to Q10.3.1 of the 2015 Blue Book) if, like me, you have a Snell 2000 helmet you will have to buy a new one for the coming season. Make sure that any new helmet has fixing posts to accommodate a Frontal Head Restraint device (see below).

Whilst on the subject, check that your seat harness is still “in-date” for the 2015 season.

If you have to buy new safety equipment, do make sure that you don’t get sold old stock!!.

 

Frontal Head Restraints

FHR’s (otherwise known as HANS devices) are recommended for the 2015 season and will be mandatory for all UK motorsport from 1st January 2016. Do bear this in mind when buying new seat harnesses or crash helmets.

 

Test Day

We are again invited to join the Classic Sports Car Club on their pre-season Test Day to be held at Snetterton on February 26th.  I’ll email out more details and a booking form in the New Year.

 

 


 

 

**** NEWSLETTER ****

 

18th November 2014

Dear Competitor,

A quick update on a few things:

  •   The Awards Dinner bookings are still well down on expectations. It’s a great disappointment to me and I do hope that some of you who haven’t booked will have a change of heart and join us on 29th November in Buckingham. 
  •   All licence holders receive the MSA magazine. You may have noticed that Frontal Head Restraints (ie. HANS devices) will be mandatory with effect from 1st January 2016.  I mention this because helmets with Snell SA2000 labels in them are not eligible for 2015 season. If any of you are buying a new helmet for next season, do make sure the helmet is FHR/HANS compatible and therefore ready for the mandatory change in 2016. 
  •   I’d like to welcome Phil Walker and Peter St. Barbe back to the Championship in ZR160’s, these two venerable chaps are great competitors and go back a long way with MGOC and have both been racing even longer than me.
  • Our 2009 champions Stuart Plotnek is also returning in an MGF. Another well known name has also acquired an MGF for 2015, more on this later.
  • Neil Howe has bought an MGBGT and is building it up to do some MGOC next season, he is a quick and experienced FIA racer and is sure to be a front runner in Class A.
  • And finally, congratulations go to Sam Dyson who married Tom during the Summer and is now Mrs Queen.

 

 **** NEWSLETTER ****

9th October 2014

Dear Competitor,

The final meeting of the season at Snetterton last weekend wasn’t without some controversy, more of that later but firstly we have to congratulate the winners after what has been a very close and hard fought season.

Class F and 2014 overall champion - Mark Baker
Class Z champion - Lee Sullivan
Class A champion - Jim Baynam
Novice champion - Gary Crowley

I’m sure you’ll all join me in congratulating Mark for winning the Championship after 9 years of trying.

So much happened over the two days, I hardly know where to start.  The Saturday race was held in torrential rain and never has the old motor-racing adage “to finish first, first you must finish” been more appropriate. Staying on the track and not spinning was the key to winning and Ben Palmer drove a superb race to win by nearly 10 seconds from Gary with Andy also driving well to take 3rd place.  

In Class F, Simon spun off on the opening lap and rejoined in almost last place and with the win looking unlikely pushed hard to try and take the point for fastest lap but didn’t manage it before spinning into retirement leaving Mark to take the win and really open up Class F.

Chris Pollard took pole position in Class A but I got ahead and lead Chris before we came across a stationary MGF on the start of the Revett Straight on lap 3. I had time to see the stationary car and got by without a problem but Chris didn’t see it until very late but somehow managed to miss it by inches but spun onto the wet grass in the process leaving me with a Iead that I held to the end.

The weather changed for the better on Sunday and the race went ahead on a dry track. Everything was settling down nicely until Ian Evans had a coming together with Another ZR that resulted in him dropping a sump full of oil from the hairpin to halfway along the Revett Straight. With cars spinning off everywhere the Clerk of the Course made a correct decision to red flag the race to allow the oil to be cleared up. We all re-assembled on the grid fully expecting to wait while the oil was cleared then have a shortened sprint race to the finish.

This didn’t happen and the race was declared over and the car directed back to the Paddock. Clause Q5.4.2 of the MSA Blue Book states that if the race is less than 75% complete it shall be re-run but Clause Q5.5 allows the Clerk of the Course to abandon it altogether if he feels fit.

The decision to abandon the race after 5 laps was, in my mind, completely unacceptable and ruined what was the closest finish ever seen in an MGOC season. I don’t think that the early stoppage of the race affected the overall championship as Simon didn’t finish either race but Chris Pollard and Ben Palmer were denied the opportunity to fully challenge for the honours in Classes A and Z.

I met with Ron Gammons (Competitions Manger of MG Car Club) on Tuesday to express my views and go through the sequence of events. Ron fully understood our collective frustrations and will report back to me when he’s had a report from the Senior Clerk of the Course who made the decision. I will of course come back to you on this.
Points Tables

After the race on Sunday there was some uncertainty as to who had won Classes F and Z but the situation was quickly sorted with Mark and Simon ending up on equal points but Mark taking the 2014 Championship by the tie break of nine wins to Simon’s seven wins.
Lee and Ben also finished on equal points with Lee taking the Class Z by the tie break of seven wins to Ben’s six wins.

The final points table is attached, I have checked this and consider it to be correct but please do contact me immediately if you think there are any errors.

Lap Records

Click here for the lap record chart, if you feel I’ve got something wrong, please contact me and I’ll look into it.

Facebook

I understand that the MGOC Championship Facebook page has gone off line. I’m getting this sorted and it will be back online soon.

2015 Regulations

I tried to get a room booked on Saturday for a drivers meeting but no rooms were available so we met in the Scutineering Bay, hardly ideal but it served the purpose. Despite me telling all but three of the drivers present that a Drivers Meeting would be held in the Scrutineering Bay at an allotted time, only a handful of drivers bothered to attend but we went ahead and a few points previously raised were discussed to a conclusion.

The main issue was the suggestion of changing the ECU supplier in Class Z from Superchips to Z and F Tuning. Given that I have had no written or emailed comment from any Class Z driver and it was unanimously accepted by all Class Z drivers who attended the meeting on Saturday I can confirm that Class Z will be required to change to a Z and F Tuning supplied
ECU for the 2015 season.

The MGF drivers who attended the Drivers Meeting on Saturday unanimously accepted that MGF’s with MEMS 2 ECU’s will continue to run with the current Superchips ECU or, if they are MEMS 3 equipped, run with the Z and F Tuning ECU.
I will give full details on exactly what changes will be made for 2015 and how to contact Z and F Tuning in a Newsletter next week.

Awards Dinner

As previously advised, this will take place at the Best Western Hotel in Buckingham on Saturday 29th November. The booking form and menu choices were given to all drivers on Sunday and have been sent out previously by email to all drivers. Please do complete and send off your booking form as soon as possible. I should also make the point that one driver is expecting to book up to 15 rooms so please do book your rooms as soon as possible to ensure that you don’t miss out.

In closing, we would like to say that whilst there were a few problems at the start of the season these were fully and correctly resolved and the racing has been superb. It’s been a very successful season and we would like to thank you all for your support over the season.


 

**** NEWSLETTER ****

 

 

10th September 2014

 

Dear Competitor

 

Many thanks to all of you who supported the Brands meeting last weekend. We managed a final entry of 28 cars and whilst just 12 cars started the Class Z races the racing was superb, undoubtedly the closest races of the weekend.

 

It was good to see the return of Mick Weidner who was making his first appearance in the Championship since winning it in an MG Maestro in 1986 and Peter Higton, Junior Bhambra and Vince Pain who were welcome additions to the Class F and Z grids.

 

The first Class Z race saw a frankly ridiculous amount of weaving and excessive blocking and a couple of drivers came very close to being penalised. I understand that the Deputy Clerk of the Course spoke to each ZR driver in the collecting area and Race 2 was every bit as close but far more civilised. Be careful on this as you will beunder close scrutiny at Snetterton.

 

Congratulations go to Ben Palmer and Gary Smith for their wins in Class Z, Mark Baker and Simon Kendrick for their wins in Class F. I managed two wins in Class A.

 

New lap records were set by Simon in Class F and Lee in Class Z.

 

There were some top class performances in Class F and Z and there were several contenders for the Star Drive trophies. As you know, these trophies are given to someone who performs particularly well, we always try and look beyond the race winners and front runners and at Brands they were awarded to:

 

Philip Espinasse who had a cracking race with Brian Butler in Race 1 and me in Race 2. Philip has had a rather chequered racing career in MG and MGF but didn’t put a foot wrong in either race and made a confident move forward and deserves the trophy for two good drives.

Junior Bhambra who also had two excellent races in a ZR that he hadn’t raced before taking a very competitive 5th place in Race 1 and a 6th place in Race 2 after a close battle with Adam Jackson.

 

Points Tables

We’re at a crucial stage of the season and I’ll forward the points going into the final meeting at Snetterton as soon as I receive them from Mark Baker.

 

Car Weights

Nigel weighed the cars at the Thruxton and Brands meetings and has given me a full list of weights recorded at those meetings. I’m pleased to advise that every car weighed at those two meetings were within the MGOC weight limits.

 

Snetterton

The entry form is attached. This is to be sent direct to MG Car Club.

The race timetable is close to being finalised, I’ll forward to you all as soon as I have it but I can say that Qualifying and Race 1 will be on Saturday and Race 2 on Sunday morning.

 

2015 Regulations

We did have a semi-formal drivers meeting at Brands and the points noted in my previous Newsletter were openly discussed. No firm decisions were taken on any technical matters but I hope the discussions made you think about way forward for 2015. We will be having a rather more formal meeting on the Sunday morning of the forthcoming Snetterton meeting where final decisions will have to be made so I can amend the Regs and get them submitted to BARC/MSA for approval.

 

We discussed the options for venues in 2015, in addition to the usual meetings at Brands, Snetterton, Thruxton, Donington and Oulton the majority of drivers voted in favour of the following:

 A return to Castle Combe  Cadwell Park over Mallory, Pembrey or Croft

 Silverstone National over Silverstone International

 

 

Awards Dinner

As previously advised, this will take place at the Best Western Hotel in Buckingham on Saturday 29th November. The booking form and menu choices will be sent out again shortly.

 


 

21st August 2014

 

Dear Competitor,


Thruxton is always a big meeting for us and whilst the entry of 23 cars was somewhat lower than I’d hoped for it was the biggest grid of the weekend. It was a high quality entry and the racing was, as ever, superb.

 

Congratulations go to Mark Baker for had a perfect weekend taking pole position, two race wins and two fastest laps in Class F to put real pressure on Simon Kendrick at the top of the points table.


Gary Smith had a surprisingly comfortable win in Class Z on Saturday with Lee Sullivan taking the Sunday win after an overnight engine change due to a broken crank.

Chris Pollard had a lonely win in Class A on Saturday and Will Sharpe drove his old Midget superbly to take a well deserved win on a wet tack on Sunday.

 

No new laps records were set

 

It was good to welcome Mike Shrimpton who had an impressive race debut in the ex-John Kimber MGBGT. It was great to see John, Trevor Dixon and long time MGOC competitor Paul Naish at the track supporting the Class A drivers.


Scrutineering

Nigel made checks on the cylinders bores and piston crowns of a number of Class Z cars using an endoscope and has confirmed that all cars are running with pistons in accordance with Clause 8.4.12 of our Regulations. A number of cars were also weighed and all were found to be in accordance with our Regulations.


Photos

Steve Jones was at Thruxton on Sunday and has some excellent action photos of our wet race. If any of you want to purchase any of Steve’s photos please email him at steve.jones28@virgin.net


Brands

As mentioned at Thruxton, I can confirm that we will be having “split grids” and we have been allocated half of the pit garages which is plenty for our likely entry level.

The two qualifying sessions are late on Saturday with all four MGOC races on Sunday. The full timetable is on the BARC website.

I’m confident that we’ll have a good entry for the Class A/F race but I’m really pushing Class Z drivers to enter this race and I’m hoping for an entry of at least 12 ZR’s.

I’m delighted to say that our 1992 champion, Mick Weidner, has already entered a ZR and is really looking forward to returning to his roots.


Drivers Meeting

We will be having a drivers meeting at some stage over the Brands weekend. The primary purpose of this is to ask for any changes to the Technical Regulations that you wish to be considered for the 2015 season. I don’t know at the moment what tome or where the meeting will take place but will let you all know before the Brands weekend.


If anyone has any changes they wish to be considered, please email them to me as soon as possible so I can do any appropriate research before the meeting.


Snetterton

I’m in discussion with MG Car Club regarding the timetable for our final meeting of the season on 4/5th October. I can say for sure that our qualifying session and two races will be over Saturday and Sunday but will advise the precise timetable as soon as I have it.


Please note that MGCC have a four hour relay race on Sunday afternoon where teams of up to four cars can enter. This is a good event and is an opportunity for some of you to put teams together for a good end of season thrash. I can say for sure that the relay race will take place after our final championship round. Contact me or look on the MGCC website for more details.

 


 

 25th July 2014


Dear Competitor,

 I would like to thank the 16 drivers who made the effort to go to Croft, it’s shame we couldn’t muster more as it’s a great track and well worth the journey up the A1. A lot of things contrived against us, especially in Class A, with a number of the regular drivers absent for very good and unavoidable reasons.


Congratulations go the Gary Smith and Lee Sullivan for a win each in Class Z and to Mark Baker for two wins in Class F. I won both Class A races from impressive newcomer Ben Tinkler.

The Star Drive trophies were awarded to:

Ben Tinkler for an impressive debut taking pole in Class A on a wet track.

 Brian Butler who put in two strong performances and had two really good results in Class F.  

Our Race 1 on Sunday lunchtime was red flagged after six laps and, in accordance with MSA Blue Book Clause Q5.4.2, re-started over the remaining 4 laps. Clause Q5.4.2 also states that fastest laps for the race will be awarded to whoever gets fastest lap in either the first or second part of the race, this seems a bit daft to me but that’s what the Blue Book says, I have queried it with BARC who have confirmed that my interpretation is correct. Given that the first six lap part of the race was dry and the final four laps were damp it’s the case the points for fastest lap in each Class go to Andy Rogerson, Mark Baker and me.  

It was good to see Kevin and Nicki Broadley at the track. Kevin has had some very nasty health problems but is on the mend and is looking forward to getting back on track in Class A next season Paddock Conduct.  An unsavoury incident took place in the Paddock after qualifying on Saturday afternoon. All drivers should be aware that the MSA hold the driver responsible for the actions of his team members and it goes without saying that me, the other drivers and MG Owners Club will not stand any form of physical or verbal threats or abuse and MGOC will not hesitate to withdraw Club membership in extreme cases. I had an open and frank discussion earlier this week with the persons concerned and first and final warnings were given. The parties involved unreservedly apologized for their behavior and the matter is now closed.

 

Facebook

Most of you know that I don’t have a Facebook account and my life is too busy to waste my time getting involved in bickering between drivers. The MGOC Championship Facebook page is monitored for content by another driver and any insulting or derogatory postings will be removed.

We can’t of course stop anyone posting whatever they like on their own Facebook account but please do think carefully before you post comments that may be considered derogatory to our Championship. The good work done by a lot of people and other drivers can be quickly destroyed so please do think carefully about what you say. It’s clearly more use and benefit to the long term future of the Championship if you concentrate on what we do well.

 

Thruxton

This is rightly regarded as one of our big meetings of the year and I really do hope you will support it.

The timetable on the BARC website currently shows MGOC races having “split grids”, this is incorrect as the circuit can start 34 cars and we will all be together in one big mixed grid. The race timetable will be revised and re-issued next week, I will email it out to you all as soon as it is confirmed.

 

Brands

As previously mentioned, we have been allocated the pit garages for this meeting. We are currently down to have “split grids” but this is dependent on entry levels, I will be emailing you all next week asking if you are planning to enter this meeting.

 

Awards Dinner

I can confirm that this will take place at the Best Western in Buckingham on Saturday 29th November, please put this date in your diary.

 

 


 

 

11th June 2014


Dear Competitor,

Our first visit to the Silverstone International circuit was fraught with problems and many drivers were justifiably angry and frustrated at the overcrowded paddock and total lack of paddock marshalling. The non-MGOC championships had races on the Saturday and Sunday so by the time we arrived on Sunday morning the paddock was full to overflowing and the area allocated for MGOC was largely taken by non-MGOC cars leaving us to park up in all sorts of strange and totally unacceptable places. It was a complete shambles and I have expressed some strong views to Ian Watson of BARC, I will forward his response to you all as soon as I get it.


If any of you feel the need to express your views please email Ian at iwatson@barc.net.
I was looking forward to racing on the International circuit but after thinking about it in the days after the meeting I’m not convinced that the track layout was much of an improvement over the National circuit. I’d welcome your thoughts on which of the two Silverstone circuits you prefer.


The Racing
The final entry of 28 cars was disappointing but perhaps inevitable given the number of cars sustaining engine and/or body damage at Oulton.

Congratulations go to Lee Sullivan and Gary Smith for their race Z wins and to Simon Kendrick who took two wins in Class F. I took both Class A wins.
The Star Drive trophies were awarded to Lee and Gary for their race wins.

The first race saw a great battle between Lee and Ben with Lee taking a hard fought battle by 0.5secs.

The second race was even more spectacular. It was a three car battle between Gary, Lee and Ben, they lapped me after Stowe on the last lap and I don’t think I’ve ever seen three ZR’s being driven so hard. It was an incredible sight and those three guys must be praised for putting on a spectacular show of hard fought but totally clean racing.

There were other battles throughout the field, especially in Class A where Chris Pollard, Ed Sharpe and Dave Amphlett had equally hard fought races.

You should all be aware that the results of our Race 2 were amended and re-issued late on Sunday afternoon, this came about when Vince was given a 40 second penalty. The judicial process taken by the Clerk of the Course requires some explanation and I have asked Ian Watson to look into the whole matter and respond to a number of relevant questions.

 


 

 

**** NEWSLETTER ****

23rd May 2014

Dear Competitor,

Oulton is a great place to go racing, a proper track with proper corners and on a lovely warm Spring day it was a treat to be there. MGOC provided the largest entry of the day but the lack of other races meant that the Paddock was almost deserted and BARC had plenty of time fill and despite having just 28 entries, we were given split grids.

Congratulations go to Simon Kendrick and Lee Sullivan each took two wins and Lee set a new lap record in Class Z. I took both Class A wins.


The race timings made it impossible to have our usual post-race trophy giving, I’m sorry about this but by the time the second Class A/F race was over, most of the Class Z drivers were well on the ay to the M6.


The Star Drive trophies were awarded to:

Vince Pain for a strong drive and a good clean battle with Andy Rogerson in Round 6.

Peter Higton for two good drives on his return to Class F.

Sadly, the day was marred by two bad accidents.


Paul Wisbey buried his much loved MGF into the tyres after running wide on the exit of Old Hall. Paul has subsequently told me that he hopes to be able to rebuild the car as it is believed to be the oldest MGF race car in existence.

Eddie Sharpe suffered brake failure at Lodge and went backwards into the tyres. The rear end of the Midget is badly damaged but repairable.

Apart from the unfortunate Paul and Eddie there were a lot on non-finishers, I hope you all manage to get your problems sorted in time for Silverstone.

Motors TV - Donington
I understand that some of the CD’s of the Donington race were actually of the Kumho BMW race. I now have plenty of CD’s of the MGOC race, if anyone wants one please let me know and I’ll post one to you.

Silverstone
The race timetable is on the BARC website. This shows the MGOC Practice session and both races on the Sunday. Please do note that this is provisional and may change.

Brands
You may be aware that Brands can start 32 cars but BARC have confirmed that as long as we get a minimum of 34 entries we will have spilt grids. We will also be allocated 50% of the pit garages, this is sufficient for 34 of our cars.

Technical Issues and Eligibility
Since the season started I have had a number of calls from existing and potential new drivers across all three Classes asking me for clarification of what they can and can’t do to their cars. In view of this I feel I should point out that the appropriate clauses of the 2014 MGOC Regulations are very clear what you can do.


Perhaps more importantly, there is a very clear statement in the Introduction section of the Technical Regulations for all MGOC Classes that clearly states that “if the Regulations do not clearly state that you can do the works you should work on the principal that you can’t”. This a common statement made in Championships based on “production” specification cars. It’s very clear what is meant by this and it is the drivers sole
responsibility to satisfy themselves that the vehicle they enter for the Championship is fully in compliance with the 2014 MGOC Regulations.

There are no “loopholes” or “interpretations”, it’s either permitted or it isn’t !!.

I will happily give common sense guidance where I can and will forward any other technical issues to Nigel and the hugely knowledgeable technical staff at MGOC for their input and adjudication

If anyone has any technical issues that they feel need clarification, please do raise them with us.

We look forward to seeing you at Silverstone for our first ever meeting on the International circuit.

 


 **** NEWSLETTER ****

25th April 2014


Dear Competitor,

Combe may not be the most exciting circuit on the race programme but it’s a delightful place to go racing. The Paddock has the feel of those from years ago before they were all concreted or tarmaced over and with all MGOC cars parked together, there was a good feel about the place. The Combe management team are a really nice bunch of people and made us very welcome, they do actually think about the drivers, who are of course their paying customers, and simple things like having tea, coffee and biscuits available all day and giving out crème Easter eggs (I didn’t get one !!) were small but welcome nice gestures.
Congratulations go to Ben Palmer for two dominant wins in Class Z, Mark Baker for two hard fought wins in Class F and Chris Pollard in Class A.

New lap records were set by Andy Rogerson in Class Z and Chris Pollard in Class A.
I do apologise for the lack of race trophies, I was badly let down by Fedex who shut their local depot on Saturday when it clearly wasn’t a Public or Bank holiday. The Combe trophies will be given out at the Oulton meeting.

The Star Drive trophies go to:

Vince Pain for a great drive through the field from 8th to 3rd in Race 1.

Ed Sharpe for two strong drives in Will’s Midget and a 3rd place in his third ever race.
Oulton Park

To me, this is always one of the highlights of the season. A provisional race timetable is on the BARC website www.barc.net , this currently shows split grids with separate races for Class Z and Classes A/F. I have to say that the final race timetable is always subject to revision so do check the BARC website nearer the time.

It clearly goes without saying that split grids will be dependent on the race entry levels so please do get your entries in a soon as possible.

Motors TV - Donington

At Combe I gave out CD’s of the Donington race (only our second race was televised) but it would appear that some of them are actually of the Kumho BMW race despite the CD’s being labelled as Lancaster/MGOC. If any of you have a CD of the Kumho BMW race, please drop me an email and I’ll forward one of our race.

Zandvoort

If any Class A drivers are interested in racing at this classic Dutch circuit on 9/10th August please email me. Sorry but Classes F and Z are not eligible...
      


 

****    NEWSLETTER    ****         

29th March 2014


Dear Competitor,

It was good to see you all at Donington for the start of the 34th year of the MGOC Championship.  For the first round of the Championship back in 1981 we had seven cars (including me) on the grid, how things have changed !!.

Despite being allocated a section of the Paddock that resembled a building site, it was a great way to start the new season and a 31 car entry was very impressive. The standard of car preparation continues to set new standards and the cars really were a credit to the drivers and a great advert for the Championship.


It was good to see Gary Smith, Doug Cole and Dave Mepham returning to us and to welcome Terry Savory, Mark Bailey, Gary Crowley and Ed Sharpe to the Championship.
The cold, wet and generally miserable weather on Saturday changed overnight and Sunday was a decent early Spring day and both races were held on a dry track.
Ben Palmer had two utterly dominant wins in Class Z and broke Lee Sullivan’s lap
record by 0.8secs,

Simon Kendrick and I took both wins in Classes F and Class A respectively. No lap records were broken in those Classes.

The Star Drive trophies went to Chris Pollard, who put in two strong performances in his first meeting in his recently acquired MGB, and Lee Sullivan who had two good finishes
after great battles with Gary Smith and Vince Pain.

It was good to see Malcolm Hill, Gary Puxty, Robin Walker and Paul Savage in the Paddock supporting friends and fellow racers.


Driving Standards


I usually make a policy statement on this matter prior to the first race of a new season but forgot. I don’t like making any comment on this subject after the first race as it ends to suggest that I’m pointing a finger at specific incidents that may have occurred, this is most definitely not the case so please be aware that the following comments are not directed personally to any driver(s) or incidents that may have happened at Donington.

Firstly, let me say the obvious. There are significant speed differential between the cars and drivers but everyone has paid their money and thus have every right to be on the track
at the same time.

The drivers of the slower cars need to be fully aware that, at some stage of the race, they will be lapped by the race leaders. The drivers of the slower car must be fully aware of approaching faster cars and, where it is practical and safe to do so, allow room for the faster cars to overtake. At the speeds they are going they have little chance of changing direction quickly.

Conversely, the drivers of the faster cars must give the slower cars room, it is not acceptable for faster cars to “bully” slower cars into submission. A good driver can often make an advantage out of passing slower cars !!.


It’s crucial to be aware of cars being alongside you in the braking zone of a corner. The single most dangerous situation is when a car moves over to take a racing line without being aware that another car is already there. We fit mirrors to our cars for a good reason and you must be aware of what is going on around you.


At the risk of repeating myself, It’s all about being aware of what is going on around you while on track – driving with blinkers on will only result in accidents and acrimony.

Yokohama

As mentioned previously, Adams and Page kindly donated two £100 vouchers to be used against future tyre purchases. The names of all registered competitors who were at Donington were put in a hat and Gary Smith and Andy Rogerson were the lucky winners.

Castle Combe

Click here for the race entry form. This is to be returned to Jo at Castle Combe not BARC.

Race Photos

Marcia Mellor takes superb photos at all MGOC meetings, see below a photo she took from Redgate at the start of Race 2, it’s a great shot and shows what an impressive grid of cars we assembled.

If you want any photo’s please contact Marcia at mariamellor@aol.com.  She will happily email photo’s to you for a modest contribution to Dave’s race budget !!.

 Novices

To qualify as a Novice driver, you must have completed no more than six previous circuit races. Any experience gained in other disciplines (eg. Karts, rallying or ovals) does not count.


At the time of writing, I believe that Ed Sharpe and Gary Crowley are our only Novice drivers, I’ve had plenty of seemingly positive enquiries from other Novice drivers but
none have yet taken the next step.


If anyone considers that they qualify as a Novice driver please do contact Jim Baynam.

Young Driver Scheme

MGOC have kindly agreed to continue their cash assistance to young drivers, this isn’t a fortune and the amount a Young Driver receives is based entirely on the number of races they enter.  The qualifying criteria is that the driver must under the age of 20 and in full time education.

Sadly, the same benefits do not apply to those drivers holding bus passes ....

 

I look forward to seeing you all at Castle Combe on Easter Monday where we are again expecting another grid of over 30 cars.



                                                                                      

                ****    NEWSLETTER    ****         

9th March 2014

 

Dear Competitor,

The new season is approaching fast and I’d like to update on a few things;

 

Registrations

To date we have received 51 registrations, all of the usual suspects have re-joined and there are a few more to come.  I’d like to welcome the following drivers who are either joining or returning to the Championship:

Class A

Eddie Sharpe – son of Will who will be racing Will’s Midget
Dave Mepham – returning with a new engine in his BGT
Terry Savory – Terry has been around the MGB racing scene for a number of years but is new to MGOC.

Class F

Mark Bailey – in the ex-Tony Markham’s MGF

Class Z

Gary Smith –  MGOC Champion in 2002 and 2005 and re-joining from Britcars
Mick Weidner – MGOC Champion in 1992 and re-joining MGOC from Dunlop National saloons
Jamie Perry – MGOC Champion in 2003 and 2004
Simon Byrne – a front runner in Maestro and ZR since 1992
Paul Naish – front runner in Midget, Maestro and MGF, returning after a few years away
Van Kaiser – a Novice driver persuaded to join by Lee Sullivan
Doug Cole – a front runner in Maestro and ZR since 1998
Steve Williams – raced an MGF in 2013 but has moved over to a ZR


Donington


At the moment we have 21 entries but a number of forms haven’t yet been processed by BARC. I’m really hoping for a final entry of at least 30 cars so please do get your entries in for what will be a cracking meeting on a great circuit. The entries officially close this week so make sure you put an entry in soon to avoid paying a late entry fee.
If any of you aren’t sure how to enter a BARC race please email me at baynam@btinternet.com and I’ll advise.

Sponsor Stickers


Both MGOC and BARC have new Championship stickers. I’ll bring these and Lancaster stickers and number backgrounds to Donington.  If any of you need number backgrounds before then, please call Linda or Judith at MGOC offices on 01954 231125 and they will send them to you.  Please do remember that all cars must run with the Lancaster Insurance number backgrounds, there are no exceptions to this.


Track Limits


You should all be aware of the new MSA Regulations on track limits, if not I’d strongly suggest you have a look at Blue Book Q14.4.2.  MSA have made a big thing of this rule change and you can be sure that it will be strictly enforced – you (and I .....) have been warned !!.

 

I look forward to seeing you at Donington for the start of the 34th year in the Championship.

 


 

 

****    NEWSLETTER    ****

Dear Competitor,

At the request of several drivers I have been pushing BARC for  timetables for the coming season races.  They are struggling a bit to get the timetables sorted and at the moment they haven't been posted on the BARC website, I can however confirm that for
Donington we will have Qualifying late (approx. 5.30pm) on the Saturday evening and both races will be on Sunday. Our second race on the Sunday will be shown live on
Motors TV.

BARC Race Entries

The form for entering BARC races is on the BARC website www.barc.net  , Click on "Championships" then going to Lancaster Insurance/MGOC then going to "Entry Form". With this form you select the races you plan to do and effectively enter them all on the one form. There is a problem in that this form can only be used if you print off a
hard copy and post it to BARC.

Click here for an entry form from the previous BARC website, this can be filled in and
emailed to BARC.

Please do note that if for any reason you have to withdraw from a meeting that you originally selected you simply need to contact Nicola at BARC and cancel the entry.  This "full season" entry form has been used for several years and it works really well.

On the subject of the BARC website, I am preparing some info on our Championship, this will be posted on the MGOC section of the BARC site soon.

Castle Combe Entry Form

For those of you who didn't pick this up when I sent it out a couple of months ago, Click here for an entry form for Castle Combe. To perhaps state the obvious, this form must be sent to Castle Combe not BARC.

Race Entry Procedure

The long standing Championship policy for accepting race entries is laid down in our Regulation 3.1. This basically state that entries are accepted in order of current Championship positions with non-points scorers making up the remaining places. If a driver puts in a late entry they will only get on the grid if space is available.

For our first meeting at Donington there are of course no current points scorers so entries will be accepted solely on the date of receipt of entry by BARC.

There are absolutely no exceptions to our Championship policy for accepting entries.

I have to say that most of the circuits we have for 2014 can start 35+ cars. I'd be rather surprised if we exceed those numbers and I'm sure that everyone who puts an entry
in will get on the grid. It does however make good sense to get your race entry in as
soon as possible.

We hope to have separate races for Saloon and Sports cars at Brands but this is, of course, entirely dependant on the number of entries received.

Tyres

We have managed to get a modest but welcome cash input from Yokohama, this will go towards trophies and other competitor related costs for the 2014 season.  
We will be expected to run small Yokohama stickers on our cars.

Adams and Page have kindly donated two £100 vouchers for tyres. The names of all 
2014 registered competitors who attend (either as a competitor or a spectator) at the Donington meeting will be put in a hat and two names will be drawn out when we
give out the trophies after the race.  

We hope your pre-season preparation is going to plan, and that you will be ready for the start of this years exciting championship.

 


 

****    NEWSLETTER    ****

 

23rd January 2014

Dear Competitor,


The 2014 Technical Regs are now available CLICK HERE, changes for 2014 are highlighted in yellow. The 2014 Regs have been formally approved by MSA but are stamped DRAFT
until MSA  have finished their own internal processes.

 

Championship Registration

BARC have confirmed that drivers can register for the Championship using the form on page 38 despite this being marked DRAFT. This form is to be returned to MGOC offices
not BARC.

Race Numbers

In line with long standing MGOC procedures, any driver who registered with MGOC for the 2013 Championship will retain that number for the 2014 season. The obvious exception
to this is Simon Kendrick who will run as no.1. 

Any driver who hasn't registered for the 2104 Championship by mid-day on Monday 3rd February runs a significant risk of having their number re-allocated. Several drivers have requested number changes so do make sure you register if you want to retain your 2013 number, you have been warned.

New drivers registering for the first time will be allocated a number after 3rd January.

Race Entry Form

BARC no longer send out hard copies of race entry forms. You can either enter on-line if you are suitable registered to do so or, alternatively, use the attached form. With this form you can enter all races you plan to do throughout the 2014 season, it's easy to cancel if for some reason or other you have to withdraw.  You can make the choice of paying for all entry fees "up front" or to have the entry fee deducted from your bank account when entries close ie. 10 days before the race.

Test Day

Most of you will know that for the past few seasons we have been invited to join in on the Classic Sports Car Club test day.  Unfortunately this year their Test Day takes place a few days after our first race meeting at Donington.

Javelin are running Track Days at a number of venues in March, have a look at http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/.  Do note that some of these Track Days have a 98dB noise limit.

 


 

****    NEWSLETTER    ****

 


Dear Competitor,

The Awards Dinner on Saturday was a great success and I'd like to thank the 73 people who attended. It was an excellent evening.

 

2014 Race Dates

I went to the BARC Championship Co-ordinators meeting on Sunday and can advise the following race dates for 2014;

 

March 22/23rd             -   Donington

April 21st                    -   Castle Combe

May 17th                     -   Oulton Park

June 7/8th                   -   Silverstone (International circuit)  

July 19/20th                -   Croft

August 16/17th           -    Thruxton

September 6/7th         -    Brands Hatch

October 4/5th             -    Snetterton

 

All races will be double-headers giving a total of 16 races.

The Silverstone meeting in June will be on the 1.85 mile International circuit. This is basically the southern section of the GP circuit, it doesn't include any of the corners on the usual National circuit.

For the two day meetings, it's too early to say if races will be all one one day or spread over two days. 

 

2014 Regs

These have been submitted to BARC. In past years they forward them on to MSA for appprovel and this always takes forever but MSA now allow changes to be approved by the Stewards of the Championship ie. BARC . This wiil significantly shorten the approval proces and given that MGOC Regs were the first ones to be submitted to BARC I expect them to be approved pretty quickly.

 

BARC Co-ordinators meeting

I went to the annual co-ordinators meeting at Thruxton on Sunday It was a very good meeting and many issues were discussed.

 

Probably the saddest issue raised was the closure of Mallory Park. The BARC directors expained the planning issues openly and in great detail and, as ever, there are two sides to the story but the result is that BARC simply cannot make it financially viable on the number of days a year they are allowed to operate the circuit.  As a result of this, BARC have put Mallory Park Motorsport (a seperate BARC owned company) into voluntary liquidation. We can only hope that a new circuit operator can be found, it would be a great shame if this circuit is lost to a housing estate.

 

The changes to the Blue Book regarding track limits was also discussed. It's certain that some drivers will fall foul of the new rule that demands that all four wheels of the car must remain within the white line.  More info on this when the precise wording of the 2014 Blue Book is known.